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At least 631 records · Page 35Linked to original sources
PubMed1995

Confined-pyrolysis as an experimental method for hydrothermal organic synthesis.

A closed pyrolysis system has been developed as a tool for studying the reactions of organic compounds under extreme hydrothermal conditions. Small high pressure stainless steel vessels in which the ratio of sediment or sample to water has been adjusted to eliminate the headspace at peak experimental conditions confines the organic components to the bulk solid matrix and eliminates the partitioning of the organic compounds away from the inorganic components during the experiment. Confined pyrolysis experiments were performed to simulate thermally driven catagenetic changes in sedimentary organic matter using a solids to water ratio of 3.4 to 1. The extent of alteration was measured by monitoring the steroid and triterpenoid biomarkers and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon distributions. These pyrolysis experiments duplicated the hydrothermal transformations observed in nature. Molecular probe experiments using alkadienes, alkenes and alkanes in H2O and D2O elucidated the isomerization and hydrogenation reactions of aliphatic compounds and competing oxidative reactions occurring under hydrothermal conditions. This confined pyrolysis technique is being applied to test experiments on organic synthesis of relevance to chemical evolution for the origin of life.

Alkanes↗
PubMed1981

Survival of microorganisms in space: a review.

Spores of Bacillus subtilis were exposed to selected factors of space (vacuum, solar UV radiation, heavy ions of cosmic radiation), and their response was studied after recovery. These investigations were supplemented by ground-based studies under simulated space conditions. The vacuum of space did not inactivate the spores. However, vacuum-induced structural changes in the DNA, and probably in the proteins, caused a supersensitivity to solar UV radiation. This phenomenon is caused by the production of specific photoproducts in DNA and protein, which cannot be removed by normal cellular repair processes. In vegetative bacterial cells, exposed to vacuum, cell dehydration led to damage of the cell membrane, which could be partly repaired during subsequent incubation. The high local effectiveness of the cosmic heavy ions further decreases the chance that spores can survive for any length of time in space. Nonetheless, a spore travelling through space and protected from ultraviolet radiation could possibly survive an interplanetary journey. Such a situation favors panspermia as a possible explanation for the origin of life.

Bacillus subtilis↗
PubMed1997

Enantiomeric excesses in meteoritic amino acids.

Gas chromatographic-mass spectral analyses of the four stereoisomers of 2-amino-2,3-dimethylpentanoic acid (dl-alpha-methylisoleucine and dl-alpha-methylalloisoleucine) obtained from the Murchison meteorite show that the L enantiomer occurs in excess (7.0 and 9.1%, respectively) in both of the enantiomeric pairs. Similar results were obtained for two other alpha-methyl amino acids, isovaline and alpha-methylnorvaline, although the alpha hydrogen analogs of these amino acids, alpha-amino-n-butyric acid and norvaline, were found to be racemates. With the exception of alpha-amino-n-butyric acid, these amino acids are either unknown or of limited occurrence in the biosphere. Because carbonaceous chondrites formed 4.5 billion years ago, the results are indicative of an asymmetric influence on organic chemical evolution before the origin of life.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed1986

Exobiology revisited.

The term "Exobiology" was introduced about 25 years ago, at a time when intensive discussions were under way concerning plans for the biological exploration of Mars. The search for life on Mars was to be a critical test of the concept of chemical evolution--not an end in itself. After the Viking mission, when it became apparent that prospects were dim for the discovery of extraterrestrial life within our solar system, many people concluded that this new field of endeavor would soon expire. Quite the contrary, over the past decade, the field had broadened considerably into a multidisciplinary approach to understanding the circumstances that led to the origin of life and the interplay between the evolution of this planet and its biota.

Astronomical Phenomena↗
PubMed1987

Efficient near ultraviolet light induced formation of hydrogen by ferrous hydroxide.

The formation of hydrogen on irradiating ferrous ion in aqueous solution or suspension was studied over a wide range of pH. In addition to the known reaction in acid solution which decreases in yield with increasing pH and required far UV light, there is an efficient reaction occurring between pH 6 and 9 which utilizes near UV light. The latter reaction is an approximately linear function of both the concentration of ferrous ion and the light intensity. The quantum yield of hydrogen from the suspension of Fe(OH)2 at pH 7.2 is very high: > or = 0.3. The quantum yield decreases by a factor of five at 1 mole percent of ferric ions. To explain these observations it is proposed that an intermediate formed on excitation of the Fe(OH)2 polymer is further reduced by a neighboring Fe(+2) to form H2. These results support the work of Braterman et al. (1983) which claimed that the near UV driven photooxidation of ferrous ions could be responsible for formation of the Banded Iron Formations on the early earth. The efficient photoreaction observed in the present work could also serve as a source of active reducing equivalents to reduce CO2 and thus provide a solution to a dilemma in the arguments on the role of reduced carbon in the origin of life.

Carbon Dioxide↗
PubMed2000

Self-programmable, self-assembling two-dimensional genetic matter.

Putative two-dimensional coding systems can be constructed from aqueous solutions of purine and pyrimidine nucleic acid bases evaporated at moderate temperatures on the surfaces of inorganic solids. The resultant structures are monolayers which are formed spontaneously by molecular self-assembly and they have been observed with molecular resolution by scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM). When formed from solutions of a single base, the monolayers of adenine and uracil have crystalline characteristics and the STM images can be interpreted in terms of the geometrical placement of planar arranged molecules that interact laterally by intermolecular hydrogen bonding. When formed from solutions containing a mixture of adenine and uracil, the monolayers have aperiodic structures. Small crystalline domains within these monolayers can be interpreted in terms of the single phase configurations of the molecules and the remaining aperiodic structures can presumably be interpreted, geometrically, in terms of the 21 theoretically possible adenine-adenine, uracil-uracil and adenine-uracil hydrogen bonding interactions. We propose that combinatorial arrangements of planar arranged purine and pyrimidine bases could provide the necessary complexity to act as a primitive genetic mechanism and may have relevance to the origin of life.

Adenine↗
PubMed1997

Activated acetic acid by carbon fixation on (Fe,Ni)S under primordial conditions.

In experiments modeling the reactions of the reductive acetyl-coenzyme A pathway at hydrothermal temperatures, it was found that an aqueous slurry of coprecipitated NiS and FeS converted CO and CH3SH into the activated thioester CH3-CO-SCH3, which hydrolyzed to acetic acid. In the presence of aniline, acetanilide was formed. When NiS-FeS was modified with catalytic amounts of selenium, acetic acid and CH3SH were formed from CO and H2S alone. The reaction can be considered as the primordial initiation reaction for a chemoautotrophic origin of life.

Acetic Acid↗
PubMed2001

[What should be shared and inherited among colleague for space life science].

Responsibility of our society is discussed with a special emphasis on the basis of modern science and the history of its development. Space life science stands on firm core research subjects, such as the origin of life or the universal law of living system. Even having this advantage, our scientific discipline has failed to bloom at the level correspondent to its significance. In order to keep the right track, the action of academic organization might be required repetitively to define the strategy of research.

Biological Science Disciplines↗
PubMed1980

Role of interstellar molecules in prebiological evolution.

Three generations of organic molecules in space are considered: interstellar molecules, molescules synthesised in protosolar cloud and molecules synthesised on the Earth. It is shown that there is no possibilities for amino acid polymers to be synthesised under interstellar cloud conditions. Molecules of the second generation were disintegrated during the Earth accumulation period. The problem of the origin of life is connected with the evolution of molecules of the third generation.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed2002

Montmorillonite catalysis of 30-50 mer oligonucleotides: laboratory demonstration of potential steps in the origin of the RNA world.

Elongation of the primer 32pdA(pdA)8pA proceeds by the reaction of the 5'-phosphorimidazolides of adenosine and uridine in the presence of montmorillonite clay. Daily addition of the activated nucleotides for up to 14 days results in the formation of 40-50 mers using the 5'-phosphorimidazolide of adenosine (ImpA) and 25-30 mers using the 5'-phosphorimidazolide of uridine (ImpU). The limitation on the lengths of the chains formed is not due to the inhibitors formed since the same chain lengths were formed using 2-3 times the amount of montmorillonite catalyst. The shorter oligomers formed by the addition of U monomers is not due to its greater rate of decomposition since it was found that both the A and the U adducts decompose at about the same rates. Alkaline phosphatase hydrolysis studies revealed that some of the oligomers are capped at the 5'-end to form, with ImpA, Ap32pdA(pdA)8pA(pA)n. The extent of capping depends on the reaction time and the purine or pyrimidine base in the activated mononucleotide. Hydrolysis with ribonuclease T2 followed by alkaline phosphatase determined the sites of the 3', 5'- and 2', 5'-phosphodiester bonding to the primer. The potential significance of the mineral catalyzed formation of 50 mer oligonucleotides to the origin of life based on RNA (the RNA world scenario) is discussed.

Adenosine↗
PubMed2003

Survival of the fittest before the beginning of life: selection of the first oligonucleotide-like polymers by UV light.

BACKGROUND: A key event in the origin of life on this planet has been formation of self-replicating RNA-type molecules, which were complex enough to undergo a Darwinian-type evolution (origin of the "RNA world"). However, so far there has been no explanation of how the first RNA-like biopolymers could originate and survive on the primordial Earth. RESULTS: As condensation of sugar phosphates and nitrogenous bases is thermodynamically unfavorable, these compounds, if ever formed, should have undergone rapid hydrolysis. Thus, formation of oligonucleotide-like structures could have happened only if and when these structures had some selective advantage over simpler compounds. It is well known that nitrogenous bases are powerful quenchers of UV quanta and effectively protect the pentose-phosphate backbones of RNA and DNA from UV cleavage. To check if such a protection could play a role in abiogenic evolution on the primordial Earth (in the absence of the UV-protecting ozone layer), we simulated, by using Monte Carlo approach, the formation of the first oligonucleotides under continuous UV illumination. The simulations confirmed that UV irradiation could have worked as a selective factor leading to a relative enrichment of the system in longer sugar-phosphate polymers carrying nitrogenous bases as UV-protectors. Partial funneling of the UV energy into the condensation reactions could provide a further boost for the oligomerization. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that accumulation of the first polynucleotides could be explained by their abiogenic selection as the most UV-resistant biopolymers.

Biopolymers↗
PubMed1995

Studies in the search for life on Mars.

The ability of living organisms to survive extraterrestrial conditions has implications for the origins of life in the solar system. We have therefore studied the survival of viruses, bacteria, yeast, and fungi under simulated Martian conditions. The environment on Mars was simulated by low temperature, proton irradiation, ultraviolet irradiation, and simulated Martian atmosphere (CO2 95.46%, N2 2.7%, water vapor 0.03%) in a special cryostat. After exposure to these conditions, tobacco mosaic virus and spores of Bacillus, Aspergillus, Clostridium, and some species of coccus showed significant survival.

Aspergillus niger↗
PubMed2002

The first cell membranes.

Organic compounds are synthesized in the interstellar medium and can be delivered to planetary surfaces such as the early Earth, where they mix with endogenous species. Some of these compounds are amphiphilic, having polar and nonpolar groups on the same molecule. Amphiphilic compounds spontaneously self-assemble into more complex structures such as bimolecular layers, which in turn form closed membranous vesicles. The first forms of cellular life required self-assembled membranes that were likely to have been produced from amphiphilic compounds on the prebiotic Earth. Laboratory simulations show that such vesicles readily encapsulate functional macromolecules, including nucleic acids and polymerases. The goal of future investigations will be to fabricate artificial cells as models of the origin of life.

Biological Evolution↗
PubMed1999

Protein expression in liposomes.

Compartmentalization is one of the key steps in the evolution of cellular structures and, so far, only few attempts have been made to model this kind of "compartmentalized chemistry" using liposomes. The present work shows that even such complex reactions as the ribosomal synthesis of polypeptides can be carried out in liposomes. A method is described for incorporating into 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-3-phosphocholine (POPC) liposomes the ribosomal complex together with the other components necessary for protein expression. Synthesis of poly(Phe) in the liposomes is monitored by trichloroacetic acid of the (14)C-labelled products. Control experiments carried out in the absence of one of the ribosomal subunits show by contrast no significant polypeptide expression. This methodology opens up the possibility of using liposomes as minimal cell bioreactors with growing degree of synthetic complexity, which may be relevant for the field of origin of life as well as for biotechnological applications.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

Life in the solar system.

Life, defined as a chemical system capable of transferring its molecular information via self-replication and also capable of evolving, must develop within a liquid to take advantage of the diffusion of complex molecules. On Earth, life probably originated from the evolution of reduced organic molecules in liquid water. Organic matter might have been formed in the primitive Earth's atmosphere or near hydrothermal vents. A large fraction of prebiotic organic molecules might have been brought by extraterrestrial-meteoritic and cometary dust grains decelerated by the atmosphere. Any celestial body harboring permanent liquid water may therefore accumulate the ingredients that generated life on the primitive Earth. The possibility that life might have evolved on early Mars when water existed on the surface marks it as a prime candidate in a search for bacterial life beyond the Earth. Europa has an icy carapace. However, cryovolcanic flows at the surface point to a possible water subsurface region which might harbor a basic life form. The atmosphere and surface components of Titan are also of interest to exobiology for insight into a hydrocarbon-rich chemically evolving world. One-handed complex molecules and preferential isotopic fractionation of carbon, common to all terrestrial life forms, can be used as basic indicators when searching for life beyond the Earth.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed1985

A possible energetic role of mineral surfaces in chemical evolution.

The postulated roles of clays and other minerals in chemical evolution and the origin of life are reconsidered in terms of the interaction of these minerals with penetrating sources of energy such as ionizing radiation and mechanical stress. This interaction, including such facets as excitation, degradation, storage, and transfer, is considered here with regard to its profound potential for altering the capabilities of minerals to serve both as substrates for prebiological chemistry and as inorganic prototypic life forms. The interaction of minerals and energy in relationship to surface chemistry is discussed in terms of the spectroscopic properties of minerals, the interaction of energy with condensed phases, some commonly accepted concepts of heterogeneous catalysis in the absence of electronic energy inputs, and some commonly accepted and novel means by which surface activity might be enhanced in the presence of energy inputs. An estimation is made of the potential contribution of two poorly characterized prebiotic energy sources, natural radioactive decay and triboelectric energy. These estimates place a conservative lower limit on their prebiotic abundance. Also some special properties of these energy sources, relative to solar energy, are pointed out which might give them particular suitability for driving reactions occurring under geological conditions. Skeletal support for this broadly defined framework of demonstrated and potential relationships between minerals, electronic excitation, and surface reactivity, as applied to chemical evolution, is provided from the results of our studies on 1/1 clays. We have discovered and partially characterized a number of novel luminescent properties of these clays, that indicate energy storage and transfer processes in clays. These luminescent properties are interpreted in relationship to the electron spin resonance phenomena, to provide a basis for estimating the potential significance of energy storage and transduction in monitoring or driving clay surface chemistry. Consideration of the electronic structure of abundant minerals in terms of band theory and localized defect centers provides a predictive theoretical framework from which to rationalize the capacity of these materials to store and transduce energy. The bulk crystal is seen as a collecting antenna for electronic energy, with the defect centers serving as storage sites. The clay properties produced by isomorphic substitution appear to be intimately associated with all of the life-mimetic chemical processes that have been attributed to clays.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Chemical Phenomena↗
PubMed1979

Bootstrapping on the adaptive landscape.

Different versions of a gene or of a multigenic system may be essentially equivalent so far as the specific function of the structures which they code for or control is concerned, but very different with respect to their amenability to evolution. The structural features which increase evolutionary amenability are a disadvantage to the organism in terms of energy. Nevertheless, they accumulate in the course of evolution as a consequence of hitchhiking along with the desirable traits whose evolution they make possible. This is the bootstrap principle of evolutionary adaptability. In terms of the adaptive landscape bootstrapping corresponds to populations evolving in such a way that they occupy regions of the landscape which are more amenable to evolutionary hill climbing. The bootstrapping idea has implications for structure-function relations in a number of complex biological information processing systems, including biochemical systems, the immune system, and the brain. Bootstrapping is also discussed in connection with the origin of information processing (the origin of life) and in connection with possible designs for macromolecular computing systems.

Adaptation, Biological↗
PubMed1993

The efficiency and versatility of catalytic RNA: implications for an RNA world.

Because RNA is chemically and structurally dissimilar from protein, the finding of catalytic activity in RNA was initially surprising. Quantitative measurements of reaction rates show that RNA can be as efficient a catalyst as protein. On the other hand, the potential versatility of RNA to catalyze diverse types of reactions has only begun to be explored. Understanding the efficiency and versatility of RNA as a catalyst helps us evaluate origin-of-life scenarios involving self-replicating RNA, and may explain why RNA catalysis remains important in contemporary cells.

Animals↗